What was thought to be a one-time sleight of handjob has instantly become the most Brentweinbachian set-up/punchline delivery to a rote comedy trope. Comedy is the easiest solution to the problem of magic. The mysticism, overly-serious showmanship, pageantry, and invasive, elaborate ruses can be instantly and perennially mocked by just fucking up, or fucking somebody …

Every hero needs an origin story. This is Anna Seregina’s. For the uninitiated, Seregina was a stand-up in San Francisco before relocating to Los Angeles. As above, so below, she’s honed a style that’s confessional, impressional, off-center and something you can root for. In this directorial debut, Seregina cross casts herself as the …

“There’s no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there’s no excuse for boredom, ever.” — Some strong words from Viggo Mortensen. Alas, Ben Kolina and Cameron Vannini are bored and debate what phone app they should use to alleviate their nothingness while a clown, Ron Chapman, idles …

Guns are fun. I can’t deny that. Most comedy about guns is about negligence, overabundance, or just plan wackiness. Isaac Hayes (RIP) in I’m Gonna Get You Sucka comes to mind. Cartoons with anthropormophic bullets rounding corners and skidding to a halt to read a sign and jetting off in the opposite direction as their …

Big Homies are important in the San Francisco comedy scene. They tell you where to go, who to talk to, where to hang out. They show what it is to be a polished, professional type. They give you that critical feedback and validation of they like your work. Might even take you under their wing, …

Can you feel a brand new day (that’s familiarly similar to all the other days)? That’s what this video proposes in answer to the questions of why NBC’s The Wiz Live! was soooo black? Like, hella black? Like, uncomfortably black? So many people decried that The Wiz Live was inherently racist, reverse racist, due to a …

I’m disoriented by the angles and frightened by the decor. I have full control but feel utterly helpless. Strange, amphibious bipeds glaring into my soul, my status as a person with flesh surely damning me to doom. Then I realize: I’m just the camera, and this is just a recording: an omni-directional, virtual reality unboxing …

Mike Brown has spent a minute or two in the Bay Area, a Sketchfest alumnus and associate of Jabari Davis. In that time I became a fast fan of his style, his substance, his wry, yet inviting humor with underlining consciousness. Clever, fun, poised: he’s funny in the ways you want, in a way you …

Ah, the guerrilla sketch. When ordinary citizens and the production values of the outside world are incorporated in some kind of farce. At its height a good guerrilla is the epitome of schedenfreude, “what I woulda done” comments on Facebook shares, and pixelated faces. At its worst, the gotcha awkwardness is turned against the viewer, shamefulness …